JAMES WILLSHIRE

Biography

"It took all of about two bars to be utterly entranced." The
Herald

Heralded for performances of “spectacular
musicianship and technical brilliance” (The Scotsman), “evangelizing
urgency” (International Record Review) and “freshness and
lucidity” (The Herald), James Willshire performs internationally
as soloist and chamber musician. He appears regularly at the major UK
concert halls, including the Bridgewater Hall, Barbican, Glasgow City
Halls, and Royal Festival Hall, and has broadcast live on BBC Radio 3.
James’s recordings of contemporary British piano music have been
reviewed extensively, receiving universal acclaim.

Festival appearances include performances given by James at the 2015
The Piano Festival at Glasgow Royal Concert Halls, the Lichfield, Cheltenham
and Winchester Festivals, the Hebden Bridge Piano Festival, the Kilkenny
Arts Festival, the Cantilena Festival, the Edinburgh Fringe, the Roman
River Festival, ‘Il Festival di Londra’, the Victoria International
Arts Festival and the Paxos International Festival.

A regular performer of contemporary music, James has given world premiere
performances of works by Ronald Stevenson, John McLeod, Rory Boyle, Jay
Capperauld, Euan Ferguson and Richard Greer. James’s debut recording
on Delphian Records featured the complete piano music by Boyle; it was
released in 2011 to critical acclaim, including a five-star review from
The Scotsman. In October 2013 his recording of piano music by Ronald Stevenson
was released. The CD was reviewed by BBC Music Magazine, Gramophone, received
a five-star review in Classical Music magazine, and was awarded an IRR
Outstanding by International Record Review. Other press interest for the
recording included articles in The Guardian, The Sunday Times, The Scotsman,
Sinfini Music, The Arts Desk and MusicWeb International. His recording
of piano music by David Jennings was chosen as one of MusicWeb International’s
Recordings of the Year 2013.

Future concerts include the Debussy 2018 project, where James
will be performing the complete solo piano music by Debussy throughout
the year. These concerts include complete cycles in Glasgow and Edinburgh,
and individual concerts in the Leeds International Concert Season, at
Chetham’s School of Music and at St Andrew’s University.

James maintains a strong interest in music education and teaches the
piano at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and St Mary’s Music
School.